Okla. Senate OKs Two Bills to Facilitate Firing Teachers

Oklahoma lawmakers moved forward two measures Wednesday that would make it easier to fire teachers, the Tulsa World reports.

The bills passed the state Senate, and now the House will take up the issue. One bill, sponsored by state Sen. John Ford, a Bartlesville Republican, would eliminate teachers’ ability to seek a trial in district courts after being terminated. Teachers would still be able to ask for a hearing before the school board.

"The problem now is that school districts can find the process so expensive and time consuming that it is easier to transfer a bad teacher to a low-performing school where parents are less likely to complain," Ford said. "If anything those are the children who need the very best teachers.

"The local board has the authority to hire teachers. This simply restores their ability to fire bad teachers."

A second bill, also sponsored by Ford, adds a list of reasons a teacher can be fired.